Cosmic Era 2207.
After driving out the Criminal Enterprise branch that the M'tok Union had gone to such lengths to plant, Xi Yan finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Had the Empire operated under an ordinary form of government, this colony would have been all but ruined by the Criminal Enterprise.
Why could the Criminal Enterprise remain entrenched in a colony for so long?
Through the power of money: bribing local officials, spending lavishly to win over society's elites, befriending influential figures from every walk of life, building a protective umbrella of vested interests, and weaving an impenetrable web of connections with cash.
But against Xi Yan, who held complete control over the Empire's entire society, that method no longer worked.
Ashes agents were everywhere, and the Empire's officials knew it well.
Taking money from aliens was fine, provided they turned it over to the authorities.
Accept it in the morning, and by afternoon, their entire family could be reunited in a generator district or agricultural district. Xi Yan was vicious toward the employees of his own imperial institutions, fully enforcing collective punishment and imposing severe penalties for minor offenses.
Through this reign of terror, he maintained stability and integrity within the Empire's governing institutions.
It was said that most young people now preferred joining the navy to taking posts in imperial institutions. Not only was there no money to skim, but their lives would be in constant danger.
That was precisely the outcome Xi Yan wanted.
With the Empire's all-encompassing net of surveillance, the Criminal Enterprise's methods naturally failed to work.
This was authoritarianism.
"With that, the Criminal Enterprise business should be over!"
After reading the latest Empire Log and confirming that those Criminal Enterprise aliens had left imperial territory, Xi Yan relaxed, got up, and flopped